Christmas @ Nana & Pappy's house

!!!Merry Christmas!!!

At 6:15 this morning, Noel came into our room saying, "It's Chrithmath! It's Chrithmas!" He then went to wake Maddie and I heard her grumble, "Why do we have to wake up at midnight?!" :)

Here's Noel after opening his gift: "Stinky the Garbage Truck" ...or as he calls it, "Thtinky the Garbage Truck!"

Maddie quickly forgave us for waking her up so early when she unwrapped her new Leapfrog. :)

Later on, we headed over to Nana's house. :)

Here's Damian & Dan.

Me and Noel with an expression I can't figure out.

Me again... usually I'm the one taking the pictures, but I gave up my camera rights after taking half a dozen really bad ones. They're so bad, I'm not even putting them on here for a laugh.

Emma-bean, caught in the act.

Noel, playing with Mad's game. He spilled his drink all over his shirt and I didn't think to pack extra clothes, so he went topless for the rest of our visit.

Singer/Songwriter/contemplative of life and it's meaning and wondering if dinner is ready yet... Dan.

Ems.

Ems with her Nana.

Singer/songwriter/Mr. Nascar Undies-head... Dan.

it's autumn, no doubt

As you can tell by the pictures, which speak 1000 words, Maddie and Dame are super excited to be raking leaves. Good thing we only have one tree.

Maddie, earning her keep. ;)

Pretty red trees in Portland... and a not so pretty parking lot.

I think we picked the windiest day to go for a walk along the river. But it was fun!

Samson survived that picture, don't worry.

Emma's cool so long as she's gots her binks.

I was FREEZING! Ha.

Hooray for fall in the beautiful NW. :)

Emma @ 11 months

Here are a few pictures of Emma in honor of her being 11 months old today.

A month from now will be 1 year since she joined our family... what a blessing!

back at the Gorge

Here are pictures from a drive we took (one of many this past summer) up the Columbia River Gorge. Maddie was happy to have Samson along...

Emma LOVES being outdoors. And we love this carrier to tote her around in.

Dame and the kids, heading down the path to the water. We see kites and we want to investigate. :)

I don't think I need to explain this picture. Ha. Dame's getting better about taking some of me here and there. Even if it requires some prompting. ;)

And the kites belonged to --kite surfers! They came closer and did some neat tricks for the kids to see. Noel and Mad were quite impressed! But I'm not surprised since they like anything that's: "To the extreme!" Ha.

...down by the river, the Columbia River...

These pictures are from a while back, when Dame and I had an hour to kill before picking up the kids from... somewhere... I forget exactly, but it was a warm, cloudy summer day and it was so nice to walk along the beach.

This picture is looking east, up the river. Mt. Hood is behind the clouds, unfortunately.

Here's looking west, down the river. That's one of two bridges connecting Vancouver to Portland, and those are two jet skis I wanted to hotwire. ;)

My Damian, my love... and me too.

Fun in the sun @ Nana's

Here are some pictures from our time visiting Damian's mom & step-dad before Raylee left for North Carolina. Yes, I'm still catching up on this summer's events...

Here we are with his mom --I like this picture, even though Dame's missing a shirt. Ha. :)

She set up the slip and slide for the kids. Here's Noel scooting (not sliding) down it. He did more of an Army crawl.

Maddie slid! With the help of Damian launching her down it.

Raylee wanted a picture of the three of us. I like this one too. :)

And here's Samson... still crazy.

We love you Ray, and miss you tons.

And let's not forget Emma! She loves exploring the yard and eating what she finds.

Saying goodbye to Ray

It always happens too fast. Raylee comes to stay with us for the summer, and the next thing we know it's time for her to go back. Here are some pictures from her "End of the Summer BBQ." We had a wonderful time with her, we miss her already, and we're looking forward to the day where there are no more tearful goodbyes.

Wait, where am I????

One of my absolute least favorite things about living in North Carolina are the large spiders everywhere. But I'm not living in North Carolina anymore --so what's with this spider?!

Dame is getting a good lock at his catch.

The thing was huge. I've NEVER seen a spider this big around here. And it was in MY BEDROOM! Ha. Noel and Damian were taking a nap together when Noel spotted this guy on the wall next to them. So Damian (of course) caught it and released it in the field across the street. And I'm sure it's finding its way back to my bedroom even as I type this... *shudder*

visiting my folks

Here are some pictures from a BBQ at my parent's house. It was our last get together with Raylee before she left. Here are the cousins...

And here are the men...

My mom...

My sister, Joanna, with Emma-bean... her necklace must be tasty.

Auntie Joanna, Maddie & cousin Skyler giving peace signs...

And that's it! :)